


The Words That Mean The Most

by NotWhoIAppearToBe



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: Brotherly Love, F/M, Kate has a mean right hook, Lost Love, Pining, Violence, brother fighting brother, tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:15:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23010844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotWhoIAppearToBe/pseuds/NotWhoIAppearToBe
Relationships: Kate Fuller/Seth Gecko, Seth Gecko/Richie Gecko
Comments: 13
Kudos: 36





	1. What Seth Did

**Author's Note:**

  * For [For Bea and Duchess](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=For+Bea+and+Duchess).



**Seth’s POV**

A broken bottle of booze. Curtains half-assed closed. His shoes carelessly flung on the floor.

One would think he was either recovering from a bender or waking up from one hell of a good time with her.

Except she wasn’t there.

Seth wasn’t one to brood or mourn or even give a shit about feelings and all that sentimental bullshit but this time, he couldn’t stop himself.

God, if Richie could see him in this state, he’d knock some sense into him.

3 days. It had been three days since Kate left. 3 days since he’d spiraled into this fucking mess of a man and he frankly didn’t care.

Where the hell had it all gone wrong? He thought things had been going real well. After their last job with Richie, they’d decided to take a break for a while, lay low and get some much needed rest. Richie had gone off to do...something. He couldn’t remember. In his hungover state, he couldn’t recall what his brother had told him he was going to go do . Probably go eat more Mexican food and drink more of that damn rice milk he couldn’t stop drinking. 

And why the hell was he wasting his time thinking about Richie when he should be thinking about Kate.

No, that wasn’t any better. Kate was the reason he was like this. Drifting between a perpetual state of being hungover or being drunk. He didn’t particularly care for either state but the truth was that as long as he remained like this, the memories didn’t overwhelm him and force him to confront his own shortcomings and feelings. 

He wasn’t good with people in general and he was even less in tune with anything dealing with emotional shit. Rubbing his face with his hands, he briefly debates on getting up, taking a shower and getting something to eat but the idea of moving wasn’t very appealing so he continued to lay on the rumpled bed and brood about his piss poor luck. 

Why the hell had Kate gone and done this to him? No one, not even Richie could leave him in a perpetual state of turmoil. With just three words, Kate had thrown his life upside down and forced his hand.

“FUCK!”

He had every right to react as he had. She had no right to go around throwing those kinds of things at him and expecting him to be ok with it. Things had been great between them. They’d had fun and laughs and the world had been theirs for the taking. Then she had to go and ruin everything.

A tiny part of him deep inside wouldn’t settle. It kept him thinking that maybe he had overreacted. Maybe it wasn’t Kate’s fault but rather his own because he didn’t know how to be around people. He knew fuck all about relationships and he definitely couldn’t say he knew anything about…

His mind shied away. He just could not say...that…

Those three words Kate had uttered to him that had both destroyed them and scared him.

Scared him because even though he had driven her away, he was afraid because he felt the same way.

  
  
  
  
  
  
******************************

**Richie’s POV**

“What kind of shithole is this?”

Richie stares at the broken neon sign of the motel where his brother was currently holed up in. They’d done a lot of stupid shit before but this had to be the low point for Seth. It really had to be. He continues to sit in the car, sipping his horchata as he stares at the blinking broken light. 

Of all the places to end up, couldn’t Seth have chosen something semi-tolerable? This place was one step up from a pit. Barely. Richie had standards for fucks sake and Seth usually did too but this? This wasn’t right. 

With a grumbling sigh, he exits the car, horchata in hand as he makes his way up to Room 238. A small smile graces his face as he thinks about what’s going to happen next. He enjoyed violence and while he didn’t necessarily like that he would have to hurt his brother, he had to admit he felt a twisted thrill at what he was about to do.

He pounds on the door in a relentless staccato of sound. Over and over he keeps hammering at the door knowing damn well that the sound he was making was pissing Seth off. Good. That’s exactly what he wanted to do.

His pounding increases until the door is flung open. Not much surprises Richie but Seth with a week’s worth of stubble on his face and reeking of whiskey, body odor and cheap stripper made Richie reconsider his approach. 

With a shrug, Richie ignores the look of surprise on Seth’s face as he forces his way into the room. Carefully placing his horchata on top of the desk in the room, he faces his brother and sighs as he rears back and without hesitation hits Seth hard with a closed fist. Watching his brother fall back, Richie smiles in satisfaction.

“Fuck that felt good.”

As Seth lay sprawled on the floor clad in only boxers, Richie can’t help but feel disgust.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I’ve been calling you. Why weren’t you picking up? And why the hell do you smell like an ashtray?”

Rather than wait for an answer, Richie begins to look in the small closet of the hotel. He pulls out the suit, fastidiously brushing off any imagined pieces of lint or dust off of it.

“Take a shower, then we’ll talk.”

It was easier to comply than to argue. Seth was in no condition to handle his volatile brother while he was still nursing a hangover. As Seth stumbled into the shower, Richie allowed himself to smile. He goes to pick up his horchata and takes another long sip, thoroughly enjoying himself as he looks around. He takes out his phone and gives another smile at the text he had received the day before.

_ <text>Your heartless jackass brother is at Motel La Luna. Pick him up before I kill him.</end text> _

Kate sure did have a way with words. From that small message he’d received and Seth’s current state, it wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened. 

A lover’s spat.

How cute.

Except it wasn’t cute when Seth let himself go and started acting like a drunken slob. That was just embarrassing.

When the water stopped running, Richie turned to sit with a pained grimace on the only chair in the room. Disgusting.

As Seth came out, he sat on the edge of the bed, bloodshot eyes starting dully at his brother but at least his head was clear.

“Why are you here Richie? I thought you were heading down to Mexico or something.”

“You don’t listen do you? That’s not what I said but it doesn’t matter. I had to come back here and clean up your mess.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t call you and there’s no mess to clean up.”

“I beg to differ. Now tell me. What did Kate say or do to make you react this way?”

Richie began to laugh as Seth stayed silent but his face. Oh his face gave him away. He had not been expecting Richie to know this was somehow Kate’s doing.

  
  
  
  


******************************

**Kate’s POV**

_ For us to make love work, we've got to try a little harder _

_ And for love to work, we gotta hold on _

_ A human heart is just too precious to spend it feeling hurt _

_ Let's start to take the chance to make love work _

“Damn you Dolly Parton.”

Kate had nothing against the legendary singer but sitting alone in a sad cheap bar while Dolly sang about love wasn’t what she needed. 

Wiping away a tear, she refuses to think about him. He did not deserve one more second of her thoughts or any of her tears.

Nursing her drink, she signals the bartender away when he gets close to her. She didn’t really want a drink but she did need the solitude a bar would offer her. It was practically empty and the bartender had been around long enough to know when someone just wanted to be left alone. 

Try as she might, the memories kept overwhelming her. Laughter as they had driven through cities and small towns. Seth talking down to people too stupid to realize he was insulting them. Eating tacos and for the first time in a long time, being relaxed. Just allowing themselves to be carefree and having the luxury to smile and laugh. It was so normal and for Kate, it had been a dream.

A dream that Seth turned into a nightmare. 

Kate had allowed herself to get comfortable with Seth. Too comfortable. Kate had reached deep within herself and allowed herself to be vulnerable and Seth…

He had not handled it well. 

No. She would not soften the blow to herself because the sooner she found her anger, the sooner she could move on and hopefully dull the pain she was feeling.

Seth had not handled her declaration well at all. He had laughed. THE BASTARD HAD LAUGHED AT HER! She remembered his words clearly. 

“You’re joking right?” 

Then the sudden realization when he saw her and noticed she had not been joking. She had meant what she said. She always meant what she said.

Then came the excuses. 

“Don’t be mad. I just wasn’t expecting this. I thought you were joking around.”

The anger. 

“Why would you want to ruin what we have? You shouldn’t have said anything. If anythign is ruined, it’s your fault!”

And then the bitter pill. His parting words to her.

“You’re still young. You’ll find someone that can give you what I can’t. It’s not in me and you shouldn’t have fooled yourself into thinking that about me.”

With those words, Seth had walked away from her and into the motel. She did not follow. She had taken her purse, her belongings and gone her own way. She didn’t have much but she had her pride and she would be damned if she would let Seth Gecko take that away from her. She’d sent one quick text to Richie just so he knew where Seth was but as far as she was concerned, her ties with the Gecko’s were cut. She was not bound to them anymore. Seth had seen to that.

  
  


Now she sat alone, tears running down her face as the haunting tune of Dolly lingered in the background. 


	2. Kate

**One week before…**

“Where to now?”

“Who cares? Let’s just see where the road takes us.”

Kate was happy. After so much fighting, so much turmoil, she was finally beginning to feel happy. They’d earned this break and Seth was making good on his promise to her. She was not bored and everyday brought them something new. He’d even taken her to a small town carnival where they’d eaten popcorn and she’d been entertained by his endless criticisms of small town life and the absurdity of carnivals, why clowns sucked and why couldn’t they have gone somewhere else. Anywhere else really but in spite of all his grumblings, he’d taken her to the carnival because she had asked. Seth Gecko who could and would cut down anyone who even looked at him funny had taken her to a cheesy small town carnival and had even cracked a smile or two as she’d teased him about his aversion to carnies and small town life. 

“Seth, stop criticizing small towns and small town people. I happen to be one of them you know.”

“Kate, there’s nothing small town about you. You see these people? They’re born in one bumfuck town and they’re content to never look beyond their narrow borders and see there’s more to the world than marrying your cousin. You? You’re not like them. You may be from a small town but you shed the dust off your boots and made yourself better than they ever could imagine.”

She refused to get offended by his statement because in his own strange way, he was complimenting her and compliments from Seth were rare. Even now, walking through the carnival and sharing cotton candy together didn’t stop him from sneering at the things they saw while also keeping a sharp eye on the people he called “freaks” which really meant the carnies and the clowns. He seemed to have a strange aversion to them, his hand twitching and inching too close to his waistband where his gun was nestled. More than once she had to slap his hand away to keep him from just taking his gun out and shooting anyone who approached them. In spite of all this, he’d take her hand in his when she least expected it. Sometimes he would do it without realizing it then look surprised when he noticed but he didn’t let go. He’d give her that small half smile, a smile he reserved only for her. She knew his smiles. His cocky grins, the wide smirk he often gave to people before shit went down but the small half smile. He only ever gave those to her. He avoided the fun house like the plague and nothing she said could make him change his mind. He hated the thought of walking through the room of mirrors and had warned her he’d break them all and use the broken glass to stab the clowns if she insisted on him walking through it with her. He wasn’t one to make idle threats so she had let it go and moved on instead, taking him to one of the games. 

“These things are rigged, you know that right?”

“Oh come on! It’s for fun Seth. Just give it a try.”

“Come on brother. Listen to the little lady. 3 darts for $5.00. Win the pretty lad a prize. Don’t be ashamed if you miss though. Not every man can pull it off. I’m sure she won’t think less of you for being afraid to try.”

The carnies words had the desired effect. Kate had squeezed his arm in warning, already understanding Seth was going to hop the small counter and beat the man to within an inch of his life for insulting him. Planting a fake smile on his face, Seth slapped his five dollars on the counter and took the darts from the carnie.

“It’s only going to take me one dart to win her a prize. Two darts for the biggest bear. The third dart is going right on your ass for pissing me off.”  
  
Pop! Pop!

Kate laughed as two balloons popped one right after the other when Seth aimed and fired. Mouth wide open, the man pulled down the bear Kate had pointed out before letting out a pained cry.

“OW! What the fuck man?”

Sure enough, the last dart had been well aimed and thrown at his ass. Though it was dull, it still produced enough of a sting to hurt as Seth and Kate walked away. She was laughing and he was smiling. 

“Let’s go now yeah?”

“About time.”

She couldn’t torture him anymore. The fact that he’d done this for her was enough. It had been a good day. A great day really. Today had been for her and now it was time to make it about them. She’d thought long and hard on how to talk to him. How to tell him. She’d had moments of silence, moments when she’d pondered his reaction. Should she stay quiet and let her actions speak for her or should she lay it all on the line and just be straight with him. Toying with her necklace as he drives them back to the motel, she stares at the horizon and knows what she will do. She wasn’t much for subterfuge and lying by omission. Not for something like this. Deep down inside, she knew she couldn’t lie to herself anymore about what she felt. Her mind drifts to the fortune teller from the carnival. Though she thought the woman was a fraud and had said nothing that was an actual fortune, the woman had been kind and had ignored Seth as he had rolled his eyes and made noises whenever she gave Kate a prediction. As they were finished, the woman had gripped Kate by the wrist and given her a gentle smile.

“You cannot always wait for the perfect time. Sometimes, you just have to jump. Take that leap of faith.”

Mystified, Kate had walked out and rubbed her wrist from the slight tingling sensation the woman had left on her skin. She’d ignored her strange comment but now it kept coming back to her. Why would she have said that? Kate didn’t believe in that sort of fortune telling nonsense and had only seen her on a whim and for fun. She hadn’t actually made a prediction. She’d just given Kate some advice that she had planned on ignoring. 

Until now.

A leap of faith.

She could do that.

Gently touching her fingers to her cross, she closes her eyes and whispers softly, gently and low enough so that Seth could not hear.

“Take the chance. No regrets.”

When she opened her eyes, she realized they were back at the motel, the car parked and Seth looking at her strangely.

“Are you alright? You look...off.”

She shakes off her reverie and gives him a smile. Not in the car. She couldn’t tell him in the car. This was possibly the least romantic place to tell someone how you felt about them.

“Yeah. Yes. I’m fine. Just got a little lost in thought. Let’s go inside for a while.”

He continued to look at her strangely before exiting the car. Something was strange but he wasn’t going to dwell on it. Probably a woman deal that he wouldn’t understand and he didn’t really want to understand.

It wasn’t until later that night when the setting sun was casting little ribbons of light into their room from the small gap where the curtains didn’t quite close that Kate had rolled onto her side and given a light kiss to Seth’s bicep. He had his eyes closed but she knew he wasn’t asleep. Closing her own eyes for a second, Kate makes her own leap of faith.

“Seth?”

“Mhmmm?” 

“I love you.”

And then came the laughter. A wide smile crosses his face as he starts to laugh. Her face falls as he continues to laugh before he starts to wind down, the smile still on his face as he turns to look at her, his own face falling as he realizes she wasn’t laughing with him. 

“You’re joking right?” 

He didn’t give her a chance to answer. He didn’t know what he was feeling. He just knew he didn’t like the look on her face. The feeling that he somehow had let her down. Sitting up, he tries to reach for her only for her to turn away and begin to get dressed. 

“Don’t be mad. I just wasn’t expecting this. I thought you were joking around.”

Kate continued to ignore him, her eyes filling with tears but like hell would she let them fall. She’d laid everything on the line for Seth and she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Not over him. 

“Why would you want to ruin what we have? You shouldn’t have said anything. If anything is ruined, it’s your fault!”

“My fault? My fault?! Seth! Are you out of your mind? What would me loving you ruin what we have? Can you really stand there and tell me you don’t feel anything for me? Can you really stand there, look me in the eye and tell me that after everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve done together, I am nothing more than a good time and a woman you can so easily discard. If that’s really what you think, own it! Look at me and tell me you don’t love me. Tell me I mean nothing to you. TELL ME!”

Rather than answer, Seth slips his pants on and walks outside of the room. He couldn’t do this with her. Not right there and not right now. What the hell was she thinking? She knew who he was and the kind of person he was. How could anyone love someone like him? Infatuated? Sure. He could see that. Perhaps she genuinely cared for him but love? That wasn’t something he could afford to believe in and it wasn’t something he could ever return. If saying those words to her would make her lose her illusions of a happy ever after with him, so be it. He hears her walk up behind him, her struggles to regain her composure. He was sure she was crying but he would be damned if he’d turn around and see her like that. He already hated himself for doing this to her. To see her cry would be a wound he didn’t want to deal with.

“Kate, I know this isn’t what you want to hear. You’re still young. You’ll find someone that can give you what I can’t. It’s not in me and you shouldn’t have fooled yourself into thinking that about me.”

Silence.

He hears her walk back into the room but he’s surprised when she doesn’t take long to return. No other words are spoken and he still refuses to look at her. The only time he raises his head is to see Kate walking away, a small bag in her hand and the keys to the car in the other. He could stop her, ask her to come back and talk but he knows it would be pointless. He fucked up. He knew it but he couldn’t fix it. She didn’t belong in his world anymore than he belonged in hers. She was everything that was good and right in the world and needed to be with someone that could make her happy. His life was lived in the shadows and he dwelt in places that were dark, disturbing and filled with evil. He wasn’t a knight in shining armor or a hero. He knew exactly who and what he was but Kate…

She was the light. She was his light that kept him from dwelling in those places too long. She kept him grounded and like a moth to a flame, he could not stay away from her.

Except he had to. He needed to let her go. Spending time with him would suck her down into his world and he’d lost her once already. If she stayed with him, there was no doubt in his mind she’d lose herself in his world and his Kate would cease to exist. She’d be empty, a shell of the person she used to be and he couldn’t let that happen to her. Her words were the painful reminder of everything they had to lose if he kept her by his side.

He looks at her as she drives away, wanting to stop her but forcing himself to stay.

He needed a drink. There was a bottle in their room. He’d start with that. Anything to drown out this hollow feeling inside of him as the taillights of the car flashed before fading in the distance.

As Seth began to drown his sorrows in a bottle, Kate sat straight and resolute in the car. She drives and drives until she arrives at a small bar, a dive really but she didn’t care. She felt numb. Shocked. What had just happened? It’s not until she is sitting inside the dive, nursing her drink that she allows herself to cry. Her fingers reach up to touch her necklace, a small act of comfort and consolation she so desperately needs. Her fingers brush her neck and collarbones before she realizes she feels nothing. Her necklace is gone. Frantic, Kate rushes to the car and searches the floorboards and seats for her necklace. She traces her step from the car to the bar and back, getting on her hands and knees searching before she sits on the dirty asphalt by the car and accepts her necklace is gone. She hurts. Everything hurts. She lost Seth. She lost her necklace. What was left? Her pride? She didn’t know but she couldn’t really think anymore. She stares at her hands, dirty and scratched from crawling on the ground and still she sits there.

The rain comes and still she doesn’t move. The few customers who go to the bar look at her but no one approaches the sobbing woman sitting next to a car while the rain comes down.

In towns like these, everyone minds their own business.

  
  
  
  
  



	3. Country Greats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seth is in a downward spiral after his fight with Kate. Will he ever take responsibility for what he said and did?

One week before…

Headlights pulled into the motel and Seth quickly went to the window to peek at the crack in the curtain fully expecting to see Kate returning. He’d kept thinking of how things had ended between them and while he felt bad for his part in it, he couldn’t bring himself to even admit he was wrong or at least acknowledge her feelings. In his own mind, he was in the right and she owed him an apology for getting attached. She should have known better than to form an attachment or to develop more than friendship to someone like him. He wasn’t built to ever settle down and Kate. Well, she was everything he could never be and she deserved better. She was the type of woman that needed stability, a family, a home and to be loved. He’d just have to make her see reason. They’d had a lot of fun together but yeah. Maybe it would be better to cool things off.

At least that’s what he kept telling himself as he ignored the sinking sensation in his stomach when the cars that kept pulling up were not hers. None of the people exiting the cars were Kate.

He kept telling himself he didn’t care but as the night dragged on, he sat on the carpet underneath the window and kept on drinking, wondering how he’d let everything go to shit.

The pale streaks of light shooting through the gaps in the flimsy curtains woke him. Annoyed, he slowly and stiffly moved up off the floor, an empty bottle of Jack rolled underneath the bed. He didn’t notice nor would he have cared. The feeling that a sledgehammer was pounding inside his head was pissing him off. He wasn’t the type to get stupid melancholy drunk. He refused to even acknowledge that he had gotten drunk because of Kate. He’d drank because he was angry. That’s all it was. Feelings and loneliness and the overwhelming feeling of dread and sadness had nothing to do with why he had gotten raging drunk and was now nursing the mother of all hangovers.

Seth stumbled to the shower, not because his normally fastidious self needed to feel clean but rather because a hot shower might help clear some of the lingering misery he felt. At least that’s what he kept telling himself. Did he really believe it? He buried his own feelings deep under denial so perhaps he really did. He let the hot water run over his body until it went from hot to lukewarm to cold. Shutting it off, he still can’t shake the headache or the pit in his stomach.

There was only one way to fix this. 

He needed to go find Kate and get her to apologize and admit she overreacted and took things too far. Then and only then could they get back to whatever it is they were. 

What were they? Not really friends. Not lovers. Except maybe? He wasn’t sure. 

His thoughts wouldn’t stop racing as he struggled to define exactly what Kate was to him. She was more than just a friend and yeah they’d had sex but it was all for fun. It was all supposed to be no strings attached. 

And goddammit. Why was he still thinking about this? He needed to go. Move. Do something.

Except he didn’t have a car. Still, that wasn’t exactly a problem for him. It would be easy to get one. 

So that’s exactly what he did. 

People were so gullible and naive. They leave their cars unlocked and the keys on the visor since they’re settling for the day after traveling. It never occurs to them to lock their shit up but Seth didn’t mind. It just made it easier for him to boost a car and drive away for a while. He’d bring the car back. He just needed to get away. 

He drove away. No destination really but he just knew he needed to get the fuck away from the motel. If he stayed out all day, the maids would have the room clean and the scent of her would be gone. The room would return to its normal sterile and stale scent and the lingering wisps of her perfume would be gone. 

Did she even wear perfume? Come to think of it, he hadn’t noticed but she had a scent to her that called to him. Some women had a signature scent that appealed to me. Strong. Sexy. Scents that let men know they were available. Not Kate. She was subtle. Just like the rest of her, one could easily overlook her until they really looked. That’s when all the pieces would come together. Her eyes were always so expressive. Seth often found himself just staring at her. Staring at how her eyes told stories without her ever speaking a word. Her smile. She didn’t smile at everyone but when she looked at him and did it, it was as if the world melted away and she was the only person that existed. She had a way of making him feel as if they were the only two people on earth that mattered. And how many times had he gone to sleep wrapped around her small frame, the scent of her hair often lulling him to sleep because like the rest of her, it was subtle, meant only for him because she trusted him. She trusted him to get close enough to be able to hold her that way.

Until he fucked it all up.

No. That was wrong. 

Seth shook his head in denial again. He didn’t fuck it up.

It’s the glowing lights of a dive bar that catch his attention. Maybe a few drinks would help him sort this shit out in his head. Somehow, Kate kept messing with his head even though she was gone and it was driving him crazy.

He parks and exits the car, still irrationally annoyed and ignoring the gnawing of guilt crawling through his system. If Richie could see him now. Thinking of his brother, he checks his phone, slightly surprised that he hadn’t heard from him. Maybe that was for the better.

Entering the bar, he notices it’s about half full of people. He ignores them just as they ignore him. Sitting at the bar, he orders himself a drink and broods into it, ignoring the waitress in her cheap outfit and too much makeup as she tries to flirt. His mood takes a turn for the worse when he starts to hear the music playing. Goddammit. What karma was this for him?

_ My love _

_ There's so many ways _

_ I want to say _

_ I love you _

_ Let me hold you _

_ In my arms _

_ Forever more _

_ You have gone _

_ And made me such a fool _

_ I'm so lost in your love _

_ And oh girl _

_ We belong together _

_ Won't you believe _

_ In my song _

_ Lady _

_ For so many years _

_ I thought _

_ I'd never find you _

_ You have come _

_ Into my life _

_ And made me whole _

“Fuck you Kenny Rogers.”

He didn’t think anyone had heard him but the bartender had as he snorted out a laugh.

“Hey man. Have some respect. That’s Kenny fucking Rogers right there.”

Seth merely gestured his glass in a mock toast to the bartender and his apparent love for the country artist before the bartender started to speak again.

“Funny you say that. Had a woman here not too long ago. Crying mess. Drinking. Wanted to be left alone. You remind me of her. She heard Dolly Parton playing and said the same thing you did about Dolly. You kids have no respect for the greats.”

Shaking his head, the bartender continues to wipe down glasses as he ponders how anyone could not like Dolly or Kenny. 

Seth merely snorts and gives a mental cheer to the unknown woman who like him, had a dislike of country artists with music that focused on love.


	4. You Owe Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out of the kindness of his heart (or because he likes to give his brother shit), Richie decides to help him with his Kate situation.

Wasn’t this a fine day for Richie? He’d driven his ass to a flea bitten motel only to find his sorry excuse for a brother on one hell of a bender after being dumped by a woman he clearly was in love with but was too stupid to admit. 

Richie did enjoy doing and saying anything to piss Seth off and Kate had single handedly given him all the ammunition he’d ever need. 

It was a great day!

He’d managed to drag Seth out to eat to help his hangover. He was also being generous and refraining from commenting on his brother's appearance. Wrinkled shirt, jeans with questionable stains and his hair had gone to shit. Despite his sudden fit of generosity towards his brother, Richie wasn’t one to hold back what he was really thinking. 

“Want to tell me why I’m the one sitting here with your sorry ass instead of the woman you’re in love with?”

Seth’s fork clatters to the ground as he looks up in shock at the damn annoying smirk on Richie’s face. He can feel the blood rushing to his face in surprise and embarrassment. He wants to deny Richie’s claim but he couldn’t find his voice to say anything. All he can do is inhale as his fists clenched, his only thought being to pummel his brother for voicing out the words he refuses to consider. 

“Come now baby brother. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice the little hearts and fucking rainbows that you were both spewing towards each other the last few weeks we were together? The sickening Bambi eyes and looks she gave you while you followed her around like a fucking lapdog with your tongue hanging out? Thank you for almost putting me off my horchata by the way. Watching you two lovebirds was fucking sickening but I was able to get some good pictures on my phone of your face like that. Now when I’m in a bad mood, I look at your lovesick expressions and I get a great laugh.”

Richie kept smirking at Seth’s pale face. He also noticed the tension in his arms as his fists clenched.

“Ooh. Tough guy. You planning on hitting me for pointing out the obvious? Alright hotshot. You get one shot. After that, it’s game on. Come on. Go ahead. Lean over the table and hit me.”

Taunting his brother was one of his favorite things to do but this? This was even better. Just to really rile Seth up some more and get his head out of his ass, Richie pulled out what in his mind was his ace card.

“So since you’re not hitting me and you’re still staring at me like a fucking moron, answer me a question I’ve been curious about. Kate has that sexy Christian girl next door thing going for her. Was she the exact opposite when you finally got her…”

He never finished his sentence because in that instant, Seth snapped his arm back and hit Richie square in the face. His actions causing the other diners to stop and stare at Seth now standing over the table and Richie laughing as he wiped a small dribble of blood off his lip.

“Now that’s my brother! I was wondering how far I’d have to go to get you to wake the fuck up.”

“Don’t ever speak of her that way again! Kate isn’t like that!”

“Oh yeah? Tell me what she’s like then.”

Richie didn’t really care but having to listen to his brother talk about her would be worth it if it would help him get his head back in the game. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t heard a lot of their shit when the three of them were traveling together. The looks they’d give each other, the oh so obvious flirting when they thought he wasn’t listening and even worse, the goddamn sexual innuendos Seth would throw at Kate making her blush. She would actually blush like some Victorian maiden. 

As he rose to sit back down, ignoring the people trying not to stare at them, he gives Seth yet another grin and taps his fingers on the table as if to indicate that he was waiting.

“So what happened? Start from the beginning.”

He settles back and makes himself comfortable knowing full well Set will stew before he finally can’t contain himself and spews. To his surprise, it doesn’t take long.

“Things were going fine. When we finished the last job, we just decided to drive. Get away for a while. I took her to a fucking carnival full of circus freaks and the dregs of humanity. We went to places I would never even consider setting foot in before but she likes the quirky and smiling and weird shit like cotton candy and people watching and ferris wheels. She likes hugs and always has this weird way of looking at people like they’re not all shit even though you and I know better.”

Seth continues with his rant as Richie stays silent, no expression on his face but his thoughts are going a mile a minute and he has to keep biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at his cluelessly lovestruck brother. Being the great man he thinks he is, he merely gestures with his hands for Seth to continue speaking even though it’s physically paining Richie to have to listen to this tripe. Half the stuff Richie was hearing come out of Seth didn’t make sense but he was tolerant enough towards his brother to let him have his moment before he knocked sense back into him.

“...and there we were, laying in bed and just coming down after...you know…”

Richie barked out a laugh that he quickly turned into a cough. Taking a long sip of his drink, he coughs a little more to hide the fact that he was trying not to laugh at his brother suddenly getting squeamish talking about sex.

“Sorry about that. Had something caught in my throat. Go on. You were saying you were both enjoying the...afterglow when?”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah. So there we were and she out of the blue decides to surprise me by saying those words. What the hell was that about?”

“What words?”

Oh Richie was on one. He was going to force his brother to say it. He wasn’t going to get away with acting like this meant nothing when clearly it meant everything to him.

“You know. The big 3.”

He cocks his head to the side, an uncertain expression on his face.

“Come on Richie. You know what the fuck I’m talking about.”

Richie pins his most innocent expression before responding.

“No, I really don’t. Explain it.”

“Fuck!”

Rubbing his hands over his face, Seth mumbles something in a low voice causing Richie to lean in closer, fighting the urge to hit his brother just because he was annoying him.

“I didn’t catch that. What was it?”

“I LOVE YOU!”

Seth stares with wide eyes, shocked he’d even managed to spew out the words haunting him. The words Kate had said to him.

“She told me she loved me and I got mad. Accused her of shit. Ran her off. It’s for the best anyway. Men like us don’t deserve women like her. Right?”

Richie says nothing. He takes some money out of his wallet and slaps them down on the table, more than enough to cover their bill and stands to leave. Surprised, Seth stands and follows him. 

“That’s it? You got nothing to say?”

“Oh I have plenty to say to dumbass but I’ll wait until you will listen. Let’s go. We’re gonna do a job somewhere further than this shithole town you sucked me into. When you’re more yourself, we’re gonna talk about why you’re feeling sorry for yourself for letting her go. You said it yourself. She’s out of your league. She’s too good for you. A woman like that could never really love a sorry ass like you. Now let’s go get you cleaned up and then we’re pulling a job. You need to get back to being yourself instead of this whiny douche crying over unrequited love. It’s fucking pathetic.”

Getting into the car, Richie still hides his smirk knowing his brother was taking his barbs but sooner or later he was going to blow. Only then would he be ready to find Kate and confront his own stupidity. After that, Richie would gladly take all the credit for getting them back together. Seth owed him big time for this. 


	5. All Saints Congregational

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate has reached a crisis of faith and reaches out to an unlikely person. This person is more than meets the eye.

Texas. Why did she always end up in Texas? Just once in her life Kate wishes she’d end up somewhere far more exotic than Texas. If not exotic, at least interesting and with better weather. Los Angeles. New York. Boston. New Orleans. San Francisco. 

All those cities just screamed of fun and excitement. Just what she needed to get her head out of the clouds and her mood out of this perpetual funk she found herself in thanks to that good for nothing useless…

No. She wouldn’t think of him. Kate refused to spend another minute of her life thinking of that dirtbag. He Who Shall Not Be Named was long gone and good riddance to bad rubbish as far as she was concerned. She was moving onto bigger and better things. Kate was young and ready for new adventures. New travels. No more waking up in seedy motels and making plans for the next job. No more dive bars that reek of cheap perfume, onion rings and stale beer. No sir. Kate Fuller was gonna find herself again and this time, she would be better than ever. She’d be the Kate she has always dreamed of being when she was a little girl. Outrageous, confident and the kind of woman who took no shit from anybody. That included certain dark eyed assholes who could not reciprocate love when it slapped them in the face. His loss. It was his loss.

As she drove through this small town in Texas, Kate kept trying to convince herself that what she was saying to herself was the honest to God truth. Maybe if she kept repeating all these things, she’d eventually start to believe them. She reaches up to her neck to touch her little cross necklace, an act she was so used to doing, she barely noticed or realized she did it anymore. It’s only when her fingers touched her bare skin that she remembered the necklace was gone. That realization broke through her false bravado as the tears began to roll down her eyes again. Over and over she wiped at her wet cheeks, cursing Seth for breaking her heart and cursing herself for giving it to him. He was undeserving of such a gift. Her greatest gift and he’d all but thrown it back at her face, riddling it with bullet holes until she was sure it would never mend.

Was she being a little overdramatic? Possibly but Kate was sure only another woman who had faced the sting of rejection like she had could truly understand. 

“Just keep driving Kate. Keep driving and find somewhere to stay before you continue. You’re stronger than you think.”

Kate just keeps talking to herself, desperate to find comfort in her own words.

Comfort.

That’s what she needed. 

The realization of what she needed was like a lightning strike in her head. For the first time in since all this had happened, Kate knew what she needed and wanted to do. She starts to pay attention to the town, looking at the signs and trying to find what she was looking for. That was the good thing about small towns. It wasn’t hard to find what you were looking for and sure enough, she soon saw the sign.

All Saints Congregational Church

Perfect. 

She needed to talk to someone that wouldn’t judge her. Someone that would let her cleanse her thoughts and her soul and that would hopefully lead her to healing from the pain she was suffering. Who better than a man of God? Or hell. She’d talk to a nun as long as it was someone who could offer her some comfort and solace right now.

The church itself wasn’t much to look at but Kate knew better than to judge a book by its cover. These small towns didn’t usually have much to offer in the way of outer appeal but the people were always kind and the churches were always a welcoming safe haven for those who had lost their way. 

Kate had lost her way.

She parks her car in the dirt lot in front of the church, hoping that it was open. It was late afternoon but there was still plenty of light out. Hopefully the priest or reverend was available. She exits the car, slowly walking up to the entrance to the church and is pleased to find it unlocked. Entering, she’s surprised that the inside is a direct contrast to the outside. The pews were clean and spacious, the hardwood floors were shiny. Someone had recently polished them. The altar was on the plain side but it was perfect. Churches didn’t need elaborate trappings and fancy flowers to be a place of worship. It just needed its people and their beliefs. 

“Hello?”

She walks further in, looking around and hopes someone heard her. She stops when she hears footsteps.

“Hey! Hold on a sec. Be right with you.”

A man is speaking from somewhere in the church. One of the rooms off to the front side of the church. It’s only a minute later that she sees a dark haired man wearing all black and a collar come out, wiping his hands on a rag.

“Sorry about that. We’ve been having issues with the air conditioner and I was trying to fix it. I failed. Anyway, how can I help you Miss…?”

“Oh. I’m sorry. My name is Kate...Smith. I was driving through the town and I don’t know. I felt this urge to stop here.”

“Well you’ve certainly come to the right place if you’re following your instincts. Most people don’t pay enough attention to that voice inside of them that tells them when to do something. Those people often miss out on opportunities because they didn’t take the chance. So, unless you came here for philosophical discussions, I can only assume there’s a real reason why you stopped by.”

He wasn’t being mean. If anything, the preacher man had a nice smile on his face. She could easily overlook his slightly rumpled state and the faint whiff of whiskey she caught on him. It wasn’t her business if he enjoyed a drink or two when he wasn’t on duty and it certainly wasn’t Sunday.

“I just...I just needed someone to talk to. I don’t know anybody here and I don’t really trust anyone and just needed…”

Suddenly embarrassed, Kate takes a step back, hoping she doesn’t start to cry.

“You know what? This was a mistake. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you. I’ll go now.”

Before she could leave, the preacher man reaches out and gently takes her hand.

“Hey, hey there. It’s ok. It’s never a mistake to ask for help and it’s definitely never a mistake to stop by the house of God. If you want to talk, I’m here to listen. I won’t even offer advice or meaningless words of comfort if you don’t want me to. I’ll keep my mouth shut until you decide you want to hear me talk. Sounds like a deal?”

Sniffling slightly, Kate nods and then gives out a teary laugh. 

“Yeah. Sure. Thank you.”

He gestures to the pew and they both sit, silence ringing out before Kate is fully ready to talk.

“You see, there was this man…”

As the day goes from late afternoon to dusk, Kate talks. She keeps talking, her hands gesturing, sometimes tears escaping and other times, she’s cursing. The preacher man says nothing. He merely listens as he watches her vent. He offers her tissues when needed but otherwise, he’s merely a silent spectator as she unloads her feelings. Kate finally finishes telling him everything. Her life before she met the Gecko’s, her life with Seth, their fight, what she’d done after he’d rejected her. It’s only when she’s finished that she begins to feel slightly better.

“Wow. That was...That was some story Kate Smith. Now, you wanna hear my advice, any words of comfort or do you just want to leave things as is? It’s up to you.”

Kate, feeling the first hints of relief, smiles widely at him and nods. She definitely wanted to hear what he had to say.

“Yes, please. What advice would you give me? I’m out of my depth here and don’t know what steps to take next. Find the idiot and try to talk? Rebuild my life without him? Let him find me? What do I do?”

At this point, the preacher man starts laughing. He laughs long and hard, the sound starting to send a chill down Kate’s spine. When he finally stops laughing, he just stares at her, unnerving her as his penetrating gaze makes the hair stand on edge. Something wasn’t right.

“You know, I think I’m feeling better. I know what I’m gonna do.Thanks for listening. I’ll just go now.”

When she tries to stand, her body freezes in the seat. With a flick of his wrist, the preacher makes the door to the church slam shut and the shutters slam close effectively locking her in with him. Terror begins to fill Kate as she remains frozen in the pew. The only thing she can move are her eyes as she stares at the preacher. He finally stands, pulling down the sleeves of his black sports coat and adjusting the collar.

“You know, for someone that should know better, you really are rather chatty aren’t you Kate...Fuller.”

Kate’s eyes widen at the use of her name. She’d never given her real name to the preacher and yet he knew. Almost as if he’d read her mind, he laughed again as he moved closer to her. She desperately wanted to back away, move but she couldn’t.

“Now Kate. Don’t you remember me? You should. We shared a body once upon a time.”

Kate was terrified. It couldn’t be. No. She was dreaming wasn’t she?

"Amaru?"

“In the flesh! I had to make due with the body that could sustain me and ironically enough, this preacher here is a wonderful temporary haven for me. I had been wondering just how to get my hands on you and as fate would have it, you found me first and you told me all about what the Gecko brothers have been up to and I didn’t have to torture it out of you. Well done Kate!”

She feels faint. This couldn’t be happening. With another flick of his wrist, the preacher man slams Kate into the wall. She’s wavering, desperate to stay conscious as he comes closer to her and kneels. The last words she hears before the pain hits and her world goes black terrify her to her very soul.

“You know Kate? I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to take my revenge on you, the Gecko’s everyone who crossed me. You are my weapon and they’ll never see me coming.”

  
  
  
  


The little boy on his bike riding quickly past the sign on the road facing the church slams on his breaks and stares back at the church. He could have sworn he heard a woman’s screams coming from there. 


	6. Amulet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie is pissed he's now babysitting his heartbroken brother while Seth is brooding over the mess his life has become while still blaming Kate. Both get a heavy dose of reality when they overhear a conversation that turns their road trip upside down.

“Where do we go now? How do we find her?”

Richie gives Seth a look. The same look he always gives him when he thinks he’s asked a stupid question or said something too ridiculous to even waste his breath replying to. Seth would never say he’s prone to nervous habits or annoying little quirks like most people but he will admit to being restless. As Richie drives, his left leg is nervously shaking before he’s given a look. The look Richie would give people who were testing his nonexistent patience. Soon he finds his fingers tapping a restless rhythm on his knee as they keep driving. Every time they’d pass a bar or a motel, he’d be on the lookout, just in case Kate was somewhere there but luck wasn’t on his side. Richie remained silent and refused to engage in much conversation with Seth. He wasn’t sure if that was Richie’s form of punishing him or he was just being an asshole. Of course knowing Richie, it was likely a combination of the two. 

Prick.

He needed to think of something other than Kate. Slowly, Richie’s previous statements ring in his head.

“You said we were going to pull a job. What kind of job and where?”

He’s jolted by Richie suddenly slamming the brakes.

“What the hell? You realize we’re in the middle of the highway right?”

Richie is clenching his jaw as he ponders how best to reply to his brother, ignoring the honks of other cars as they are forced to drive around them.

“You listen and listen well you self-absorbed shit. I am the one pulling your head out of your ass while you nurse your broken fucking heart. Don’t you ever fucking question me about our work again. I’m letting it slide right now because you’re recovering but this is your only warning. Question me again and Kate will be the least of your worries.”

He’s done speaking. Without bothering to look at the other cars on the road, Richie pulls away as Seth stews in silence. 

This is so unlike him. He’s not one to let shit go and when his brother pushes, Seth pushes right back. He blames Kate. This is all her fault. If she had just left things as good as they had been, none of this would be happening now. Instead, she has to go fall in love and put her hooks in his own heart and now he is a hungover sulking mess getting bitched out by his brother. 

Richie keeps driving and Seth keeps sulking. No. He’s not sulking. Only weak assholes sulk. Seth was merely keeping his silence and biding his time. For what? He wasn’t sure. The further they drive, the less sure he becomes. They’ve passed countless towns and cities where they could have easily pulled a job but Richie was a man possessed. He wasn’t answering any questions and frankly his own mood was piss poor. He was just along for the ride until they could talk without kicking each other's asses. 

It’s late and they’ve driven without stopping for anything except gas. Seth wants to bitch just for form but he’s too tired. He heaves a big sigh of relief when Richie pulls off the highway in some dump of a town in Texas.

“What the hell Richie? Annville? What the hell is here?”

“Our job.”

Richie pulls over into some semi-decent looking motel, really an upgrade considering some of the downright trashy dives they’ve had to stay in before. Tossing a key to Seth, Richie walks to one of the rooms and opens the door. 

“Your room is next door. You may be my brother but I’m not sharing a room with you when you’re in this pitiful goddamn state. Clean yourself up, rub one out if you have to and meet me in an hour. We’re getting some tacos and horchata. There’s a decent place not too far from here.”

“Fuck you.”

Those are the only words they exchange as both enter their respective rooms. 

Richie meticulously takes off his coat, removes his shoes and tie and hangs them up carefully in the small closet. Removing his shirt and pants, he saunters to the bathroom and starts the shower, carefully testing the water to make sure the pressure was decent and the water nice and hot. He does this meticulously, as if each step was the single most important thing he had to do but his mind was on Seth and the mess he’s become. This is why it’s safer not to mix with women in the romantic sense. He had tried to warn Seth but the idiot kept fooling himself and saying it was all in good fun and him and Kate had an understanding that there were no strings attached. What a load of horseshit. Seth should have known that a preacher’s daughter like Kate would end up with feelings and those would somehow fuck up Seth. As usual, Richie was right. It was up to him to set his brother straight and get him over this temporary inconvenience.

Seth sat on the bed, his mind an endless loop of the usual. Kate. Kate. Kate. It was a never ending mantra and he was going out of his mind, unable to find any stop to this hell his own thoughts had become. So maybe he had not handled it all that well but he wasn’t solely to blame. 

It doesn’t work.

Every single time he tries to lay the blame on her shoulders, the conscience he didn’t know he had made a fucking appearance and forced him to accept that all of this was his own fault. He was the cause of his own misery. Did he feel any guilt? Yeah. He could privately admit he felt guilty over the words he’d chosen to use against her. Guilt over the look of hurt on her face as he lied and told her he felt nothing for her. Maybe Richie was right. He was a fucking pitiful mess. Rising from the bed, he strips and goes to shower, not caring at the moment if the water temperature was barely warm. He just wanted to shower, eat, sleep and maybe in the morning they’d find some fresh clues as to where Kate was. As for this job Richie kept alluding to, it could wait as far as he was concerned. Finding Kate was his priority. If nothing else, the least he could do is explain to her why he had overreacted. And maybe an apology was overdue. Admitting that was difficult since he wasn’t a fan of apologies and rarely gave them but Kate was owed one. At least one. Maybe more. 

Body and hair still dripping, he grabs a towel and dries himself off, slightly thankful his brother had somehow thought ahead to book these rooms in this town. Though he didn’t know how long Richie had been here, he had to figure it was at least a day or two since he already knew the best place to find his tacos and horchata. Looking for his clothes, he changes fast, not wanting to antagonize Richie since he needs his help in locating Kate. He leaves his room just as Richie is walking out of his. They exchange no words. They simply get in the car and it’s less than 10 minutes later when they’re exiting it again to a small hole in the wall restaurant. Seth takes a seat while Richie goes to order, returning with only one drink.

“What the fuck?”

“I’m your brother, not your babysitter or nursemaid. You wanna eat or drink? Go order it yourself.”

Seth gets up without saying anything to Richie. Fucker was being a petty asshole just because he could. Richie always enjoyed acting this way towards people but it was a special joy to be a prick to Seth because it wasn’t often he could do it. Ordering quickly, Seth returns and glares at Richie who continues to sip his horchata looking for all the world as if he did not have a care in the world. To Seth’s surprise, the food doesn’t take long to come out. They still don’t speak to each other as they dig in. Seth can privately admit that Richie was right again about the food. The tacos were good and satisfied the hunger he wasn’t really aware he had. They’re close to finishing when some people enter the restaurant, clearly in the midst of some intense conversation.

“...he swears he heard a woman screaming!”

“Did he now? Are you sure it wasn’t just the preacher getting down and dirty with that gal that came over a few months back?”

“No. He said the woman in the church was screaming as if someone was trying to murder her! It scared him right quick so he went to Donnie to report it. When the police showed up at the church, there was no sign of a woman and the preacher was missing. No one has seen him but his truck and her car are still there.”

“Are there any women in town missing?”

“That’s the thing. Best Donnie can tell, she wasn’t from here. She just came in and disappeared. Left her car and belongings in the church but her and preacher are gone.”

Their conversation drifts as they move to the other end of the diner but both Seth and Richie have gone still. Though there was no proof that they people talking were actually talking about Kate, both brother’s knew that when they felt uneasy and had a sense of dread about them, something wasn’t right. Both of them get up quickly and leave the diner, rushing to the car.

“I know what church they’re talking about. The preacher is known around here for being a drunk and a smartass to the people.”

Seth nods, slightly curious as to how Richie knows so much about this town and its people already but his curiosity is dimmed with the sense of urgency that overtakes him as they drive away fast. Something wasn’t right. Richie drives to the outskirts of town until they reach the white church, paint somewhat peeling and faded but overall still a pretty decent looking building considering the town itself was a shithole. Parking the car, the brothers rush to get inside.

That’s the beauty of small towns. People are nosy as fuck but when something new and interesting comes their way, the often forget small details such as locking doors. A locked door wouldn’t have stopped them but it sure made things easier. As they enter, they immediately notice how still and quiet everything is. There’s something in the air. They can’t pinpoint it but it’s an almost familiar feeling that’s starting to creep up on them.

“She’s been waiting.”

Both turn around, guns quickly pointed at the preacher man that managed to silently enter the church. He laughs at them before putting his hands up in a show of submission.

“Hold on there boys. She has a gift for you. I’m just gonna slowly put my hand in my pocket, no tricks. She wanted me to give this to you.”

He slowly removes an object from the inside of his cleric’s coat and bends low, pushing it towards the brothers. The object hits Richie’s shoe as the preacher man laughs.

“I guess that’s it then.”

Richie slowly bends down to pick up the object, his eyes never leaving the preacher. When he holds the item in his hands, both Richie and Seth take their eyes off the preacher to look at it.

“Oh fuck…”

Both look back up to see the preacher has disappeared. They can’t worry about that now. In his hands, Richie holds Amaru’s amulet, it’s stone as black as when she wore it.


End file.
